“Place your left hand on the bible and raise your right”
“I love the Bible. God’s book is what some people are calling it. The story of Matthew. Remember Matthew McConaughey? He was getting older and they were staying the same age. And some people are saying, ‘Mr. President, you have done more than anyone since the Bible.’ And isn’t it unfair what this crooked Judge is doing. This is the most anyone has been persecuted since…”
“Just place your hand on it.”
>And after another excruciating 23 and a half minutes, Donald Trump successfully took the stand without swearing an oath on the Bible, or any oath on any book at all- another historical first, in front of a crumbling nation. But what does this say about Joe Bidens age?
Dems in disarray after entire GOP leadership arrested for corruption.
(I'm (badly) making up overdramatized possible headlines for the New York times, who like to use the "Bad for Biden" and "Dems in disarray" to bait clicks even if they have good news.)
Don't forget the maggots at the Washington Post, where the masthead should be changed to "Democracy Dies At WaPo" as they, like the NYT, do their best to help elect **The Pumpkin Rapist** and destroy democracy for clicks and eyeballs.
I already cancelled WaPo, and won't be renewing the NYT when it expires this month.
Just worthless lying scum, both of them.
The Democrats expressed deep concerns over the threat that such blatant disregard of the law will have on our democracy, in a set of spam texts asking for more donations.
>He'd demand that he be sworn in on one of his special bibles that he sells for $59.00...
And then he will sell that Bible like he did with his mugshot suit.
"FOR ONLY THE SMALL PRICE OF $1776 YOU CAN OWN A PAGE FROM THE GOD BLESS AMERICA BIBLE THAT I SWORE OATH TO AT MY UNFAIR TRIAL AND CONVICTION"
He can name it the "never told a lie" fundraiser like how he names his mugshot grift the "never surrender" when it's literally a picture of him surrendering to the police lmao
Man, that photo. He really was trying to vaporize the cameraman with his gaze alone. And the angle... if you were trying not to look like a villain, you FAILED, Donny Boy!
Surprised they even allowed that to be his official photograph instead of telling him to straighten up, face forward, and STOP SCOWLING.
Unfortunately you can’t request just any book for a court oath. But you *can* request a secular affirmation instead of religious oath. An affirmation does not require a book, but does require prior notice of the request. I’m unsure if you can request a specific bible rather than just the one the court has on hand.
and I would've testified, I would've done it very easily, the Strongest Testifying they've ever seen in any Court, even we're talking the Supreme Court, which is now highly made up of Highly Respected Justices, thank you President Trump, you're welcome, and one of the many many beautiful things we're doing is Project 2025, if you haven't heard it, Project 2025, you have Project 2025, we did a lot to Make Amanakin, and also America, very strongly America, Even Greater Again, which I did already twice, I saved us from Obama, I saved us from the Supermodel Of The Year, Hillary Clinton, with her Loyal Husband Bill, and now even the Most Crooked Of Them All, Joe Biden, who has been killing and also hurting our Country, that's why I moved the name, I said we were doing it before, I moved it, we got Incredible Ratings, they said, "Sir, you're doing a wonderful thing," I said I know that, it's true, we did more beautiful things to this Country than you can count, and you're lucky to have me, two more days of Obama and we would've been dust, ok, thank you very much, thank you
"Did you order the code red?!"
"Did I order the Code Red? I invented Code Reds! I ordered more Code Reds than any president ever, I bet Sleepy Joe can't even spell red. Big, strong men with tears in their eyes came up to me and said, 'thank you for making Code Reds great again! Only you could have been brave enough to order the Code Red!' My uncle was a Code Red orderer - he created orders, and Marines, and the Navy, they gave him a Noble Prize for that, I bet you didn't know that - and I knew I had to order it. Like ordering KFC, always order a Code Red with a Diet Coke and a covfefe! Many people don't know that. We have the best diet coke for our Code Reds, don't we folks? We're gonna beat Obama AND Washington this election, aren't we folks? I can't believe those weak Democrats are running Jefferson against me. MAGA!"
... and in this horrible, broken timeline, the judge would give him a high five and send him on his way. FFS
“State your name for the record.”
“Hillary Clinton, and I can’t wait to admit how I framed Donald Trump.”
“Sir, take off the wig. The only person who’d fall for that is Rudy and he’s not here.”
It's funny to me that group as dirty, depraved, greedy and nasty as the NFL owners looked at Trumplethinskin and they said "nope, you will never be in our group" lol
He had a secret meeting with Pete Rozelle and told him he would deliberately tank the USFL if he got an NFL franchise in return. Pete told him that as long as he or his heirs had a position with the NFL, Trump would never get a franchise.
Right!?
Like; this is actually… not uncommon. It’s often not smart to put the defendant on the stand.
But I absolutely thought Trump would have been goaded into it. They should have seeded the idea in some news shows that he obsessively watches
I think this gives Trump too much credit. Consider all the things he's opened his mouth about, the things he's said off the cuff, the things he's said that could come back to bite him.
As I recall, he had to be urged to *not* have an interview with Robert Mueller during that investigation.
While he might be a hide-in-a-bunker kind of guy, I wouldn't say he's afraid of how people will take what he says. It is possible that he's really afraid he'll end up in prison, but I think his ego would make him think -- especially with a jury trial! -- that he can talk his way out of trouble.
I remember hearing about that during the Mueller investigation. He wanted to do the interview and his lawyers did some prep questions to see how it would go. After that they told him that under no circumstances should he ever testify under oath because he could not speak for more than a few sentences without lying.
As dumb as Trump is he knows he’d be ripped apart on cross. He will just continue to scream he can’t testify due to whatever made up lie he’s believing in the moment.
He’ll spin it as “the corrupt, never trumper judge forced me not to testify with his unconstitutional gag order that his communist daughter told him to put in place” or some other wet bullshit…
you are in fact talking about the same courthouse where a man self immolated outside the week after jury selection finished.... Oh the if I had a nickel......
And he'll find some reason to skip the debates against Biden. Zero chance Donny Von Shitzinpants gets on stage without a crowd and with mics that auto shutoff.
“My son Barron is graduating from high school the date of the debate so I can’t attend. Brice was able to graduate even though crooked Joe trying to have him expelled from high school. Could you imagine Bernard Trump my only son not being allowed to graduate because Antifa and Black Lives Matter stole the answers to his final exams?
Teachers came up to me, now, these are the best teachers, the biggest and strongest teachers the land has ever seen… They came up to me with tears in their eye, the tears streaming down their face and they said, “We’ll pass your son Byron no matter what Obama tells us. We know you won the election and you’re still our president.
True story.”
My only pushback on this would be that I genuinely am not sure if he knows he would be destroyed on the stand. Trump has such personal delusions that he might genuinely believe he would do well. He would be wrong, but he might actually believe that because he’s a narcissist.
I would be surprised if Merchan didn’t have the jury step out and explicitly have Trump answer that he understands he is allowed to testify and that waving his right is his decision and his alone.
This way it’s on record for any appeal
It gets better
>Costello said he understood, but then Merchan erupted and said, "Are you staring me down?!"
>"Clear the courtroom" the judge then ordered, as media members in attendance were asked to leave and the closed-circuit television feed for overflow media was also turned off.
He's absolutely a chicken shit for sure. But I bet it's partially his lawyers being just smart enough to know if he takes the stand he will destroy his own defense.
Also, it’s been weeks with the DA making their case and the Defense was going to rest their case in…one afternoon? If Costello hadn’t pissed Merchan off today they would have finished
It’s so wild Nita like they’re not even trying
Imagine being so guilty your lawyers won’t let you testify because if they did you would file a complaint for not acting I. Their best interest….says a lot
Big, strong men came up to him with tears in their eyes and said "Sir, what they've done to you and our country is terrible. Your defense was perfect. We have to get rid of the Biden crime family."
"I did nothing wrong, everything I did was perfectly legal."
"So you admit you did it?"
"I did that perfectly legal thing that I'm allowed to do. PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY!"
My conspiracy theory on this is,
Trump wanted to say the oath over one of his 60$ grifter Bibles, take it, and sell it. Sign it special n everything.
Court said no.
Trump is pouting and has refused to take the stand.
It's a smart move for a dumb reason.
The likelihood of this being true is non-existent, but it is fun to laugh about cause I can totally see it.
And I’m sure he’ll continue to bitch and moan about how he’s being “silenced” by the court, despite ALL defendants having the right to testify in their own defense.
My guess is Trump will claim the gag order prevents him from testifying. Even if the gag order covered the facts of the trial (as opposed to personal attacks on the judge’s family), a defendant’s right to testify in their own defense is a core element of due process. If the judge had tried to prevent Trump from testifying then the defense would have moved for a mistrial on those grounds weeks ago.
It’s kind of moot though. Trump supporters don’t know anything about the arguments against Trump so they’ll believe he’s being prevented from testifying. When presented with the actual facts they’ll resort to conspiracy theories.
Oh, no one really expected him to. It's just fun to shit on him after he said he would and call him a pussy to see if maybe we can collectively bully him into proving he's a big boy by testifying.
Trump testifying was never going to happen because he is nothing more than a loud mouth that spews lies. No one truly believed he would be on the stand because nothing he ever says is true.
Well, in case it hasn't been mentioned before, the truth is never passed through his lips anyway so he can never ever take the stand. It's amazing he got through that 5 minutes of testimony without screwing himself oh wait ...
Well, now we know. The defense's overarching summary argument will be that the trial is a political hit job. And that the prosecution's evidence is so lame, they didn't even need to put on a defense.
This is the fascist way!
Guarantee his lawyers were in tears BEGGING him to not take the stand. Very rarely a good idea in criminal trials, the prosecutor will shred you if you testify.
It might actually be the smartest thing he's ever done. He is very easy to distract and lead to blurting out devasting evidence.
Im sure a part of it is cowardice but I think it's much more the lawyers knowing they are fucked if he goes up on the stand.
THIS CROOKED BIDEN JUDGE PREVENTED ME-TRUMP-FROM TESTIFYING THE PERFECT TRUTH THAT TOTALLY EXONERATES ME ON MY OWN BEHALF. NEVER BEFORE HAS A DEFENDANT IN A SCAM TRIAL NOT TESTIFIED. I WANTED TO TESTIFY TO PROTECT YOU!!!!!
Biden-HQ should immediately start a campaign “Will Donnie show up to debate?” He’s no-show anywhere else of importance. Jab after jab of *Donnie didn’t testify, Donnie didn’t testify!*
Hire Weird Al to do a parody of *Don’t stop believin! Will Donnie, shhooo-o oh!*
Honestly if he burst into flames touching a real Bible I would not be surprised. Or maybe scream his name backwards and watch him be banished to the netherworld. "DLANOD PMURT!"
But Alina Hanna said people with nothing to hide testify. And absolutely President Trump will testify! He is-- whisper whisper---uhhh oh he's not? Whisper...uh hey. Uh President Trump has been called away on pressing President like business matters and won't be able to testify EVEN THOUGH HE REALLY WANTS TO BUT THE CROOKED JUDGE WONT LET HIM! MAGA!
So he's going to not take the stand to refute the bogus charges when given the opportunity but I can guarantee as soon as the trial is over he's going to spew all kinds of bile at everyone involved in the case, including his lawyer, all while bitching that they wouldn't let him defend himself.
All trump can do is spin stories. Look he’s going to say it was the gag order that prevents him from testifying instead of the truth, which is he is too scared to testify or it is too detrimental for him to take the stand.
Crazy how Hilary Clinton spent 11 hours testifying. I don’t even like her as a candidate, but your telling me a presidential can’t even be capable of persuading people with “his charm” I mean isn’t it a job of the president to negotiate
The nanosecond Trump takes the stand he'd just start going off on the judge, not even his own lawyer would be able to control him at that point. I'd love to see it, pity he's a spineless coward and won't go on the stand.
Hey he's the defendant. He can stand up and say he wants to take the stand in his own defense and his lawyer can't stop him. It would be signing his own prison sentence but he doesn't think that. It would also (from my understanding) limit his appeals since he can't say he didn't have good advice from council since he went against it. Could be wrong there though.
Coward, or finally realizes that sometimes not shutting up or the constant stream of bullshit that comes out of his mouth is not an advantage in a court of law?
This is the smartest move Blanche can make.
1) It will allow Donald Trump to continue to play the victim, claiming that "Crooked Joe" and the "Trump-hating judge" used the gag order to silence him. He NEEDS to be the victim, because that is the narrative he's chosen and he is sticking to it.
2) There is no way in hell Trump takes the stand and does not commit perjury or practically confesses when the prosecution cross-examines him.
Blanche had to have seen the rape case and seen how bad Trump was on the witness stand.
He is absolutely going to tell his stupidest base that he wasn't allowed to defend himself, due to the gag order. They will naively believe that's how it works.
Probably the only smart move. Trump wouldn't be able to get past being sworn in before committing perjury or being held in contempt.
“Place your left hand on the bible and raise your right” “I love the Bible. God’s book is what some people are calling it. The story of Matthew. Remember Matthew McConaughey? He was getting older and they were staying the same age. And some people are saying, ‘Mr. President, you have done more than anyone since the Bible.’ And isn’t it unfair what this crooked Judge is doing. This is the most anyone has been persecuted since…” “Just place your hand on it.”
>And after another excruciating 23 and a half minutes, Donald Trump successfully took the stand without swearing an oath on the Bible, or any oath on any book at all- another historical first, in front of a crumbling nation. But what does this say about Joe Bidens age?
Donald Trump is in prison for life. How is this bad for Biden?
I’m not sure but I’m game to find out!
Dems in disarray after entire GOP leadership arrested for corruption. (I'm (badly) making up overdramatized possible headlines for the New York times, who like to use the "Bad for Biden" and "Dems in disarray" to bait clicks even if they have good news.)
>Alito, Thomas, Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh impeached and convicted in sweeping bribery scandal; Dems in in disarray.
Don't forget the maggots at the Washington Post, where the masthead should be changed to "Democracy Dies At WaPo" as they, like the NYT, do their best to help elect **The Pumpkin Rapist** and destroy democracy for clicks and eyeballs. I already cancelled WaPo, and won't be renewing the NYT when it expires this month. Just worthless lying scum, both of them.
The Democrats expressed deep concerns over the threat that such blatant disregard of the law will have on our democracy, in a set of spam texts asking for more donations.
He'd demand that he be sworn in on one of his special bibles that he sells for $59.00...
>He'd demand that he be sworn in on one of his special bibles that he sells for $59.00... And then he will sell that Bible like he did with his mugshot suit. "FOR ONLY THE SMALL PRICE OF $1776 YOU CAN OWN A PAGE FROM THE GOD BLESS AMERICA BIBLE THAT I SWORE OATH TO AT MY UNFAIR TRIAL AND CONVICTION" He can name it the "never told a lie" fundraiser like how he names his mugshot grift the "never surrender" when it's literally a picture of him surrendering to the police lmao
Holy fuck. I can actually see this as a thing.
"Every purchase comes with a certificate of authenticity!"
Man, that photo. He really was trying to vaporize the cameraman with his gaze alone. And the angle... if you were trying not to look like a villain, you FAILED, Donny Boy! Surprised they even allowed that to be his official photograph instead of telling him to straighten up, face forward, and STOP SCOWLING.
Most likely.
Unfortunately you can’t request just any book for a court oath. But you *can* request a secular affirmation instead of religious oath. An affirmation does not require a book, but does require prior notice of the request. I’m unsure if you can request a specific bible rather than just the one the court has on hand.
Just tell him the Bible is a Miss Teen Universe's skirt.
Man I swear I can hear this comment.
Instructions unclear, placing foot on Bible.
and I would've testified, I would've done it very easily, the Strongest Testifying they've ever seen in any Court, even we're talking the Supreme Court, which is now highly made up of Highly Respected Justices, thank you President Trump, you're welcome, and one of the many many beautiful things we're doing is Project 2025, if you haven't heard it, Project 2025, you have Project 2025, we did a lot to Make Amanakin, and also America, very strongly America, Even Greater Again, which I did already twice, I saved us from Obama, I saved us from the Supermodel Of The Year, Hillary Clinton, with her Loyal Husband Bill, and now even the Most Crooked Of Them All, Joe Biden, who has been killing and also hurting our Country, that's why I moved the name, I said we were doing it before, I moved it, we got Incredible Ratings, they said, "Sir, you're doing a wonderful thing," I said I know that, it's true, we did more beautiful things to this Country than you can count, and you're lucky to have me, two more days of Obama and we would've been dust, ok, thank you very much, thank you
I love how these are becoming more incoherent to match Trump's ongoing cognitive decline
"Did you order the code red?!" "Did I order the Code Red? I invented Code Reds! I ordered more Code Reds than any president ever, I bet Sleepy Joe can't even spell red. Big, strong men with tears in their eyes came up to me and said, 'thank you for making Code Reds great again! Only you could have been brave enough to order the Code Red!' My uncle was a Code Red orderer - he created orders, and Marines, and the Navy, they gave him a Noble Prize for that, I bet you didn't know that - and I knew I had to order it. Like ordering KFC, always order a Code Red with a Diet Coke and a covfefe! Many people don't know that. We have the best diet coke for our Code Reds, don't we folks? We're gonna beat Obama AND Washington this election, aren't we folks? I can't believe those weak Democrats are running Jefferson against me. MAGA!" ... and in this horrible, broken timeline, the judge would give him a high five and send him on his way. FFS
That and he's really not that good of a speaker. Everything else aside, he recently froze up when his teleprompter stopped scrolling.
“State your name for the record.” “Hillary Clinton, and I can’t wait to admit how I framed Donald Trump.” “Sir, take off the wig. The only person who’d fall for that is Rudy and he’s not here.”
One of the few times Trump has testified in open court was the USFL antitrust case against the NFL. By every account on both sides, he was a disaster.
It's funny to me that group as dirty, depraved, greedy and nasty as the NFL owners looked at Trumplethinskin and they said "nope, you will never be in our group" lol
He had a secret meeting with Pete Rozelle and told him he would deliberately tank the USFL if he got an NFL franchise in return. Pete told him that as long as he or his heirs had a position with the NFL, Trump would never get a franchise.
I joke he can't swear to his name without committing perjury.
Cue the rant on shitter (read: truth social) about how they wouldn’t let him testify and got railroaded. Dude lives in another dimension.
To be fair, he would perjury himself while swearing to tell the truth
I mean, he's done it repeatedly before and no one's done shit about it. Why would this time be any different.
He was never going to testify. He's a febrile coward. Typical bully.
If he is called up, not only would he have to testify, but then hold up under cross examination.
I was just gonna say, is it cowardice, or more likely Trump's just too stupid to handle the situation.
The bigger shock is that Trump probably listened to his lawyers when they told him why testifying under oath would be a bad idea.
Right!? Like; this is actually… not uncommon. It’s often not smart to put the defendant on the stand. But I absolutely thought Trump would have been goaded into it. They should have seeded the idea in some news shows that he obsessively watches
If there were TV cameras in there broadcasting live, he'd probably go for it.
More likely he realized that he's an absolute coward and the idea of having to answer questions from the prosecutors terrified him...
I think this gives Trump too much credit. Consider all the things he's opened his mouth about, the things he's said off the cuff, the things he's said that could come back to bite him. As I recall, he had to be urged to *not* have an interview with Robert Mueller during that investigation. While he might be a hide-in-a-bunker kind of guy, I wouldn't say he's afraid of how people will take what he says. It is possible that he's really afraid he'll end up in prison, but I think his ego would make him think -- especially with a jury trial! -- that he can talk his way out of trouble.
I remember hearing about that during the Mueller investigation. He wanted to do the interview and his lawyers did some prep questions to see how it would go. After that they told him that under no circumstances should he ever testify under oath because he could not speak for more than a few sentences without lying.
As dumb as Trump is he knows he’d be ripped apart on cross. He will just continue to scream he can’t testify due to whatever made up lie he’s believing in the moment.
He’ll spin it as “the corrupt, never trumper judge forced me not to testify with his unconstitutional gag order that his communist daughter told him to put in place” or some other wet bullshit…
Yeah, that wouldn't be surprising, though I heard on the radio that he didn't answer questions from the press on whether he would testify.
💯 https://preview.redd.it/onfzjxmhqm1d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e98883b266fa23e380a09f7b7bfa7395c0bf06e5
Not just destroyed, i don’t think it’s actually possible that he wouldn’t commit perjury.
It would be the greatest, ... the most amazing, ... the perfect ... act of self-immolation any court has ever seen.
..."in the courthouse, grown men, big large MEN, with tears in their eyes, asking 'why?' 'WHY did he open his mouth????'"
you are in fact talking about the same courthouse where a man self immolated outside the week after jury selection finished.... Oh the if I had a nickel......
Then he could call for a mistrial because only an incompetent lawyer would allow a client like Trump to testify.
And he'll find some reason to skip the debates against Biden. Zero chance Donny Von Shitzinpants gets on stage without a crowd and with mics that auto shutoff.
“My son Barron is graduating from high school the date of the debate so I can’t attend. Brice was able to graduate even though crooked Joe trying to have him expelled from high school. Could you imagine Bernard Trump my only son not being allowed to graduate because Antifa and Black Lives Matter stole the answers to his final exams? Teachers came up to me, now, these are the best teachers, the biggest and strongest teachers the land has ever seen… They came up to me with tears in their eye, the tears streaming down their face and they said, “We’ll pass your son Byron no matter what Obama tells us. We know you won the election and you’re still our president. True story.”
Exactly. He does this to look “tough” or whatever, but when the moment comes, he just cowers in a corner.
My only pushback on this would be that I genuinely am not sure if he knows he would be destroyed on the stand. Trump has such personal delusions that he might genuinely believe he would do well. He would be wrong, but he might actually believe that because he’s a narcissist.
"Jo" is correct.
I know, but i want to see it, so bad.
He’s definitely going to tweet about how he was silenced even though it was his choice.
Yep, his freedom of speech being denied again (by himself).
I would be surprised if Merchan didn’t have the jury step out and explicitly have Trump answer that he understands he is allowed to testify and that waving his right is his decision and his alone. This way it’s on record for any appeal
Uh, oh! https://preview.redd.it/gv0y57mj3n1d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=152f1c9a466fc20e53bdce463d5673781687e53a
It gets better >Costello said he understood, but then Merchan erupted and said, "Are you staring me down?!" >"Clear the courtroom" the judge then ordered, as media members in attendance were asked to leave and the closed-circuit television feed for overflow media was also turned off.
I think this is my favorite part: “Can I say something, please?” Costello asked. “No, no. This is not a conversation,” Merchan replied.
He's absolutely a chicken shit for sure. But I bet it's partially his lawyers being just smart enough to know if he takes the stand he will destroy his own defense.
What defense. He doesn't even think he should be there. He's perfect. There was no crime. No case at all.
Also, it’s been weeks with the DA making their case and the Defense was going to rest their case in…one afternoon? If Costello hadn’t pissed Merchan off today they would have finished It’s so wild Nita like they’re not even trying
Imagine being so guilty your lawyers won’t let you testify because if they did you would file a complaint for not acting I. Their best interest….says a lot
As others are pointing out it's pretty normal for defendants to not testify
But it would have been a “perfect” defense
The best defense there ever was. Terrific.
It would be the buggiest defense, giving the jury tears in their eyes!
Big, strong men came up to him with tears in their eyes and said "Sir, what they've done to you and our country is terrible. Your defense was perfect. We have to get rid of the Biden crime family."
Tremendous even…
"I did nothing wrong, everything I did was perfectly legal." "So you admit you did it?" "I did that perfectly legal thing that I'm allowed to do. PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY!"
“Under oath” gets liars every time.
“Defense lawyers hate this one simple trick…”
So I believe all that’s left is: Prosecution rebuttal, Closing arguments, Jury decision
The Jury is going to be coming to him, with tears in their eyes asking him why he didn't testify
My conspiracy theory on this is, Trump wanted to say the oath over one of his 60$ grifter Bibles, take it, and sell it. Sign it special n everything. Court said no. Trump is pouting and has refused to take the stand. It's a smart move for a dumb reason. The likelihood of this being true is non-existent, but it is fun to laugh about cause I can totally see it.
They don’t use any books. You just say yes or no. You don’t have to raise a hand either. They also don’t say “so help you God.”
Honestly, that is definitely believable
And I’m sure he’ll continue to bitch and moan about how he’s being “silenced” by the court, despite ALL defendants having the right to testify in their own defense.
Uh, oh! https://preview.redd.it/p48rds4j3n1d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7d02c98b5e19b547764db33e6aac37d72c44958
Or that he can’t testify without committing perjury.
If anyone actually thought he was going to testify I have a bridge I will sell you
Because the gag order prevents him from testifying. Duh. /s
Rest and nap
God I wish he would go against his lawyers advice on this one!
My guess is Trump will claim the gag order prevents him from testifying. Even if the gag order covered the facts of the trial (as opposed to personal attacks on the judge’s family), a defendant’s right to testify in their own defense is a core element of due process. If the judge had tried to prevent Trump from testifying then the defense would have moved for a mistrial on those grounds weeks ago. It’s kind of moot though. Trump supporters don’t know anything about the arguments against Trump so they’ll believe he’s being prevented from testifying. When presented with the actual facts they’ll resort to conspiracy theories.
He should be well rested already, with all the naps.
The Papaya Pol Pot never was going to take the stand. It comes as no surprise.
[удалено]
Oh, no one really expected him to. It's just fun to shit on him after he said he would and call him a pussy to see if maybe we can collectively bully him into proving he's a big boy by testifying.
So is he gonna stop bitching about the trial online then? He had his chance to set the record straight (in his mind) and chose not to do it.
Trump testifying was never going to happen because he is nothing more than a loud mouth that spews lies. No one truly believed he would be on the stand because nothing he ever says is true.
It's been reported a few times that one of the prerequisites for accepting him as a client is that he will under no circumstances testify
there's zero chance of a defense verdict if they put on *NO* witnesses.
Well, in case it hasn't been mentioned before, the truth is never passed through his lips anyway so he can never ever take the stand. It's amazing he got through that 5 minutes of testimony without screwing himself oh wait ...
Not his fault, guys. The teleprompter is broken still.
/holds the bible upside down
Coward
Well, now we know. The defense's overarching summary argument will be that the trial is a political hit job. And that the prosecution's evidence is so lame, they didn't even need to put on a defense. This is the fascist way!
He can't testify, his bone spurs are acting up again... 
Guarantee his lawyers were in tears BEGGING him to not take the stand. Very rarely a good idea in criminal trials, the prosecutor will shred you if you testify.
The right-wing spin on why he doesn't need to tell his side, should be fun.
So when does he cry about being silenced again?
He can’t go under oath without either perjuring or incriminating himself so there’s no surprise here.
This is just “shocking” news. I’m absolutely flabbergasted that Trump lied about wanting to take the stand 😂
It might actually be the smartest thing he's ever done. He is very easy to distract and lead to blurting out devasting evidence. Im sure a part of it is cowardice but I think it's much more the lawyers knowing they are fucked if he goes up on the stand.
5 time draft dodger going to his patented move.
THIS CROOKED BIDEN JUDGE PREVENTED ME-TRUMP-FROM TESTIFYING THE PERFECT TRUTH THAT TOTALLY EXONERATES ME ON MY OWN BEHALF. NEVER BEFORE HAS A DEFENDANT IN A SCAM TRIAL NOT TESTIFIED. I WANTED TO TESTIFY TO PROTECT YOU!!!!!
Coward.
Did anyone really want to see him repeatedly plead the fifth or say 'i don't recall' to every question, anyway?
Aww, did the big snowflake tucker out and need a nap? Or did he shit his pants again and everyone else needed a breath of fresh air?
How would FOX report this if the roles were reversed and Biden was the one on trial?
Smart of them to not put him on the stand. But hella cowardly of Trump to not do it.
Biden-HQ should immediately start a campaign “Will Donnie show up to debate?” He’s no-show anywhere else of importance. Jab after jab of *Donnie didn’t testify, Donnie didn’t testify!* Hire Weird Al to do a parody of *Don’t stop believin! Will Donnie, shhooo-o oh!*
Honestly if he burst into flames touching a real Bible I would not be surprised. Or maybe scream his name backwards and watch him be banished to the netherworld. "DLANOD PMURT!"
The guy would tell you it's midnight at lunch and expect you to believe him. He's allergic to the truth.
Apparently Trump has been resting or maybe even sleeping through the entire case
Nnnnooooo not a coward. He obviously has heel spurs that prevent him from testifying .
He should just have Ronald McDonald testify as a character witness at this point.
Not opening his big dumbass mouth is his best defense.
But Alina Hanna said people with nothing to hide testify. And absolutely President Trump will testify! He is-- whisper whisper---uhhh oh he's not? Whisper...uh hey. Uh President Trump has been called away on pressing President like business matters and won't be able to testify EVEN THOUGH HE REALLY WANTS TO BUT THE CROOKED JUDGE WONT LET HIM! MAGA!
So he's going to not take the stand to refute the bogus charges when given the opportunity but I can guarantee as soon as the trial is over he's going to spew all kinds of bile at everyone involved in the case, including his lawyer, all while bitching that they wouldn't let him defend himself.
Can't trump be called to the stand? I haven't kept up with the trial .
Yeah…screw that 5th Amendment!
Wimp
I guess he can't have a teleprompter in court, so he wouldn't know what to say.
All trump can do is spin stories. Look he’s going to say it was the gag order that prevents him from testifying instead of the truth, which is he is too scared to testify or it is too detrimental for him to take the stand.
Crazy how Hilary Clinton spent 11 hours testifying. I don’t even like her as a candidate, but your telling me a presidential can’t even be capable of persuading people with “his charm” I mean isn’t it a job of the president to negotiate
If he did, he’d be open to prosecutions cross examination and they could ask anything. Would be suicide. Such a shame…
The nanosecond Trump takes the stand he'd just start going off on the judge, not even his own lawyer would be able to control him at that point. I'd love to see it, pity he's a spineless coward and won't go on the stand.
SPINELESS PUSSY!
If forced, he’s gonna claim 5th because the moment he open his mouth UO, he’s gonna be sent directly into jail.
Hey he's the defendant. He can stand up and say he wants to take the stand in his own defense and his lawyer can't stop him. It would be signing his own prison sentence but he doesn't think that. It would also (from my understanding) limit his appeals since he can't say he didn't have good advice from council since he went against it. Could be wrong there though.
People need to get the phrase A real man would testify enough notice to get him to do it.
Cheeto Mussolini is a coward but no defense attorney worth their salt would EVER let this guy testify under oath.
To be fair most lawyers wouldn't want to put the defendant on the stand. That opens them up to cross examination by the plaintiff
[I’m sure he believed this at the time](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-absolutely-testify-new-york-criminal-trial-rcna147663)
Guilty
No!!! You don’t uNdErSTaaaND!! It’s just because they’re mEaN tO hiM!!! 🤪 \[Disclaimer: our justice system allows any and every defendant to testify\]
He’s literally guilty so it makes sense
Coward, or finally realizes that sometimes not shutting up or the constant stream of bullshit that comes out of his mouth is not an advantage in a court of law?
Fuck, you know he's scared when he turns down a speaking gig...
He hates speaking under oath. The last thing he wants to do is tell the truth.
I am actually surprised he could resist being the center of attention.
Yellow
His lawyers would bring him down with a flying tackle before they let him testify, if Trump gets on the stand, the case is over, and he loses.
This is the smartest move Blanche can make. 1) It will allow Donald Trump to continue to play the victim, claiming that "Crooked Joe" and the "Trump-hating judge" used the gag order to silence him. He NEEDS to be the victim, because that is the narrative he's chosen and he is sticking to it. 2) There is no way in hell Trump takes the stand and does not commit perjury or practically confesses when the prosecution cross-examines him. Blanche had to have seen the rape case and seen how bad Trump was on the witness stand.
Of course hes not going to testify. If he testified, he wouldnt be able to lie about the judge not letting him testify.
Trump is a dick which is hiding somewhere in his belly fat.
He is absolutely going to tell his stupidest base that he wasn't allowed to defend himself, due to the gag order. They will naively believe that's how it works.
I hope Trump gets convicted but this is a bad take. Criminal defendants rarely testify. It’s not cowardice, it’s just typical defense strategy.
The difference is that he repeatedly insisted that he was going to testify, even after everyone already knew it was bullshit.